Automatic safety stopcock



Aug. 11, 1925. 1549322 M. M. MARA AUTOMATIC SAFETY STOPCGGK Filed Jan, 8, 1920 Patented Aug. ll, 1925.

MICHAEL H. MARA, O1? IVIT-DFORD,

tIASSACK-IUSETTS, .i-LSSIGNOR 0F ONE-*HALF TO GEORGE A. DUCHANNE, OF MEDFORE', IvIASSACI-IUSLETTS.

AUTOMATIC SAFETY STOPCOCK.

Application filed January 8, 1 920. SeriaI IiTo. 350,174.

To all to/1 0m it may concern.

Be it known that T, MICHAEL h Lw'rHEw MAnA, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Medford, in the County of Mid dlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Automatic Safety Stopcocks, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to valves and more particularly to valves designed for use with gas pipes. 1

An objectof the invention is to provide an improved Valve which may be employed either as a stop cock to shut off and lock shut the supply of gas from the mains, or as a safety valve that is normally open but that is adapted to close automatically to prevent gas from entering a building in case of fire.

A further object of the invention is to improve the construction of valves, rendering them simple in construction, cheap to menu facture and efficient in operation.

With these and other ends in view, as will be apparent to persons skilled in the art, the invention consists of the improved valve hereinafter described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a preferred form of the present invention, showing the valve set to operate as a safety cock; Fig. 9. is a similar view showing the safety cock closed; Fig. 3 is a similar view, with parts shown in elevation, illustrating the use of the valve as a stop cock; and Fig. 4 is a .view of a pre ferred form of fusible element.

According to the preferred embodiment illustrated in the drawings, the invention comprises a valve body 2 having inlet and outlet openings 1 and 6 connected by an unrestricted passage 8. The openings 4 and 6 are preferably horizontally alined, as shown, and as the passage 8 is unrestricted, itis a simple matter to thaw out the valve in the event of its freezing during the winter. The passage 8 is in part bounded by oppositely disposed conical walls, one of which is indicated at 1-0, that are adapted to be engaged by the outer surface 12 of a heavy, conical, reciprocally movable valve 14; to close the passage, as shown in Figs. 2 and 8. As the surface 12 is continuous and of the same conical shape as the conical walls 10, and as the walls 10 are of comparatively large area, the engagement of the valve 14: with the walls 10 provides fora large seating capacity of the valve 14 upon the walls 10, thereby completely shutting off the supply of gas from the mains (not shown) to which the inlet opening 4 is connected. The valve 14 is adapted to" be mounted in the passage 8 through an aperture 16 communicating therewith. The aperture 16 is formed in the upper wall 18 of the passage 8 and is bounded in part, as shown at 20, by a continuation of the conical wallslO} The lower wall 22 of the passage is siniilarly 'cut away at 24 so as to form a continuation of the conical walls 10. The continuations 20 and 24: of the walls 10, like the walls 10' themselves, are engaged by the conical surface 12, when the valve is closed, thereby preventing the gas leaking past the inlet sf above or below the valve 14. A threaded cap 26 is employed to close the aperture 16 so as to prevent the gas escaping into the atmosphere when the valve is open. The cap 26 is providedwith a guiding pin 28 adapted to lie in a recess 30 in the upper face of the valve 1% to maintain the valve centrally positioned when open, Fig. 1, and to guide the closing movement of the valve, Possible frictional binding of the surface 12 upon the walls of the passage during the closing movement is thus prevented, so that the valve is permitted to fall freely and seat tightly. The cap 26 is shown with rounded exterior so that after it has been positioned, with cement upon its interior threads, it will be diflicult to remove.

The features of the invention thus far described are of general utility and relate to improvements in valves generally. Rotatable valves are sometimes hard to rotate and continued rotation roughens them, making regrin'ding necessary. The freely reciprocable valve of the present invention is not attended with these disadvantages.

A nipple 32, with exterior threads 34:, is vertically disposed upon the exterior side of the lower wal- 36 and is provided with an aperture 38 in communication with the supply. The aperture 38 is vertically below the aperture 16. An annular groove 40 is cut into the base wall 42 at the open end of the nipple, in which is adapted to be seated a cooperating annular ridge 44 (Fig. 4) raised above the plane surface 46 of a fusible element 48. The fusible element is thus adapted to plug or close tightly the aperture 38 at the open end of the nipple, providing for a very effective ground joint or union connection to seal the nipple and preventing the escape of gas from the aperture 38 into the atmosphere. If desired, of course, the annular elements 40 and 44 may be reversed, so that the groove may be provided upon the fusible element and the ridge upon the nipple. The fusible element may be constituted of any suit-able substance, but is preferably an alloy that will fuse or melt readily at comparativelylow temperatures when the neighboring air is heated, when a fire occurs in the building. The valve 14 is designed normally to lie above the passage 8, supported by the fusible element, and to close in case of fire, thereby shut-ting ofi the supply of gas from the mains. To this end, the fusible element is provided with a seat 50 upon which rests a stem 52 that is seoured to the lower end'of the valve 14 and extends into the aperture 38. The fusible element is held in'place by a cap 54 threaded upon the threads 34. The position normally occupied by the valve, when employed as an automatic safety cock, is shown in Fig. 1; and in Fig. 2 is shown the position assumed by the valve after the stem 52 has fallen through the melted fusible element.

In order that the same valve may be employed either as an automatic safety cook or .as a stop cook, the lower end 56 of the stem 52 is threaded, so that a nut 58 may be threaded thereupon, as shown in Fig. 3, to lock the valve 14 in closed position. To prevent unauthorized tampering with the valve when thus employed as a stop cook, a cap 60 may be threaded upon the threads 34 so as to enclose the lower end of the stem 52 and the nut 58 threaded thereon. The cap 60 may be provided with two holes, one of which is indicated by the numeral 62, which may be alined with a hole 64 bored through the nipple 32. A wire 66 may be inserted through the alined holes 62 and 64 and the ends of the wire may be secured together by any suitable seal 68. The cap 60 may, of course, be dispensed with, and the wire 66 may be inserted through suitably alined openings in the nipple 32 and the stem 52, or through openings provided in the nut 58 and the stem 52, but a less effective seal will thereby be provided. The use of the cap 60, furthermore, prevents direct manipulation of the nut .58 and serves to protect the threads 34 against accidental damage, so that the cap 64 may be threaded thereover, when desired, to change the valve from a stop cock into the above-described automatic safety cock. 7

Gas is usually charged with a proportion of moisture some of which condenses within the mains and drips away. The moisture which condenses within the passage 8 would have a tendency to flow down into the nipple 32 and collect within the aperture 38 upon the fusible element 48. This, of course, would tend to cool the fusible element andprevent its melting in case of fire. it boss 70 is accordingly provided upon the interior lower wall of the passage 8, the top 72 of which extends vertically above the lower line of the openings 4 and 6. The moisture which condenses within the passage 8 will therefore collect within the space 74 between the boss 70 and the continuation of the walls 10 and will flew back along the lower walls of the passage 8 and the lower portion of the inlet opening 4 into the supply mains. it can not flow through the outlet opening 6 because the pipe leading therefrom (not shown) extends upwardly. The aperture 38 extends upwardly through the boss 70 so as to connect the nipple to the passage 8. The stem 52 rests within the extended aperture so that the falling move ment of the valve is guided not only by the guiding pin 28 and the recess 30, but by the stem 52 and the aperture 38 as well. The lower end of the valve 14 is recessed at 7 6, so as to enclose the boss 70 and thereby prevent the boss from interfering with the free falling movement of the valve.

A very efficient valve is thus provided, some features of which are of general utility, but which is particularly effective to shut off the supply of gas in case of fire. and which may readily be converted into a stop cock. Springs, which, as is well known become unreliable when heated, as during a fire, are entirely unnecessary in this construction. The valve may, of course, be used in other connections than with gas mains; thus, it may be employed to stop, under predetermined conditions, the flow of oil from oil wells. It is desired, therefore, that the appended claims be construed broadly, except in so far as limitations may be therein specifically imposed.

1. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having an inlet opening and .1 passage connecting therewith having an apertured lower wall, and means whereby moisture accumulated upon the said lower wall may drip back into the inlet opening, whereby the moisture is prevented from passing into the aperture of the lower wall.

2. A valve having, in combination, avalve body having a passage the lower wall of which is apertured, a fusible element closing the'faperture, the wall of the valve body near the aperture and the fusible element being provided with cooperating ridge and Til groove acting as a ground joint to seal the aperture, and a valve resting upon the fuslble element.

3. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having inlet and outlet openings connected by an unrestricted passage with conical walls, a nipple vertically disposed upon the exterior lower wal of the passage and provided with an aperture communicating with th passage, a fusible element closing the open end of the nipple, the nipple and the fusible element being provided with cooperating annular ridge and groove acting as a ground joint to seal the nipple, and a heavy conical valve resting upon the fusible element, said valve being adapted to fall by gravity upon the fusing of the fusible element to engage the conical walls and close the passage.

4. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having inlet and outlet openings connected by an unrestricted-passage having conical walls inclined slightly from the vertical, the passage having also an upper wall provided with a guiding pin and with a lower wall provided with an aperture, a fusible element closing the aperture, and a heavy conical valve normally supported by the fusible element adapted to fall by gravity upon the fusing of the fusible element to engage the conical walls and close the passage, the valve having a recess within which lies the guiding pin to maintain the valve centrally positioned when open and to guide the falling movement of the valve, whereby possible frictional binding of the valve upon the walls of the passage is prevented and the valve is guided to fall freely and seat tightly.

5. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having horizontally alined inlet and outlet openings connected together by an unrestricted passage with conical walls, an apertured nipple vertically disposed upon the exterior side of the lower wall of the passage, a boss vertically extending from the interior side of the lower wall of the passage above the lower line of the inlet and outlet openings and provided with an aperture connecting the passage with the aperture in the nipple, a fusible element closing the aperture of the nipple, the nipple and the fusible element being provided with cooperating annular ridge and groove acting as a ground joint to seal the nipple, the upper wall of the valve body being provided with an aperture above the first-named aperture, a heavy reciprocable conical valve adapted to be mounted through the upper aperture having a recess in its upper face and'a stem at its lower end, the stern resting within the lower aperture upon the fusible element, and a cap for closing the upper aperture having a guiding pin lying in the recess, said valve being adapted to fall by gravity upon the fusing of the fusible element to engage the conical walls and close the passage, the stem and the guiding pin guiding the falling movement of the valve.

6. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having inlet and outlet openings coniected by a passage and vertically al-ined apertures communicating with the passage, boss vertically extending from the lower wall of the passage above the lower line of the inlet opening, whereby moisture may accumulate in the space about the boss and drip back through the inlet opening, a reciprocable valve adapted to be mounted above the lower wall of the passage through the upper aperture having a stem resting in the lower aperture and a recess in its outer end, and a cap for closing the upper aperture having a guiding pin lying in the recess, the stem and the guiding pin guiding the vertical movement of the valve.

7. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having an inlet opening, a passage connecting therewith, a vertically disposed apertured boss upon the lower wall of the passage extending above the lower line of the inlet opening, whereby moisture may accumulate in the space about the boss and drip back through the inlet opening, and a vertically reciprocable valve mounted in the aperture of the boss.

8. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having an inlet opening, a passage connecting therewith, a vertically disposed apertured boss upon the lower wall of the passage extending above the lower line of the inlet opening, whereby moisture may accumulate in the space about the boss and drip back through the inlet opening, and a vertically reciprocable' valve mounted in the aperture of the boss having a recess at its lower end to enclose the boss.

9. A fusible element for a valve comprising a fusible disk having a plane surface upon which is provided a seat for a valve and an annular element out of the plane of the surface adapted to cooperate with an annular element upon a valve body to act as a ground joint.

10. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having a passage and an aperture communicating therewith, means for normally closing the aperture, a valve having a threaded stem adapted to rest upon the aperture-closing means, the stem being adapted to extend through the aperture when the aperture-closing means is removed to permit th closing of the valve, and a nut adapted to be threaded upon the stem for locking the valve closed.

11. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having a passage'and an aperture communicating therewith, a fusible element adapted to close the aperture, a valve having a threaded stern adapted to rest in th passage upon thei'usible element, the stem being adapted to extend through the aperture when the fusible element is removed to permit the closing of the valve,

and a nut adapted to be threaded upon the stem to look the valve closed. a

12. A valve having, in combination, a valve body having a passage, an exteriorly threaded nipple vertically disposed upon the exterior side of the lower Wall of the passage and provided with an aperture communicating With said passage, a fusible element, a

15 to maintain the fusible element upon the cap adapted to be threaded upon the nipple open end of the nipple, a valve having a threaded stern adapted to rest upon the fusible element, the stem being adapted to extend through the aperture when the fusible element is removed to permit the closing of the valve, a nut adapted to be threaded upon the stem to lock the valve closed, a (rap adapted to be threaded upon the nipple to enclose the threaded end of the stem and the nut threaded thereon, and means for sealing the cap.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name this 5th day of January,

MICHAEL M. MARA. 

